Santa answerred my wishes and a new head unit was duly delivered on Christmas day, Sony CDX-GT540UI, this will replace the existing Panasonic tape deck/boot changer setup in my '97 E36 323i Coupe.

I'm looking for some advice!
1) do i take the cable out from the old head unit to boot changer? won't it be a pig to get out?

2) do i really need an adaptor to fit the stereo? Halfords website says yes but Santa didn't bother - its only £16 so not a big deal if recommended?

3) the most important question however is.... what speaker upgrades would you guys recommend? i want to keep the same size but go for better quality/ output than the originals, no amp or sub. i looked on a few car audio sites and ebay and £20 a speaker seemed a sensible budget for a decent brand and performance but i couldn't find any packages, especially if a decent Sony set was available as i'd match the head unit

all i can say is once you upgrade you'll probs want to add a sub and amp jus for the shear difference it makes if your using components, but if 6x9's you may be ok. never used 6x9's myself. i have recently installed a 2 way alpine set in the front of mine which came with tweeters which were too powerful in comparison to the foot panel bass speakers so have bought vibe set with cross overs and going to buy an amp to go with them, so i guess what i'm saying is that if you do buy another set dnt bother with ones with added tweeters, jus keep with the kick panel and the door speakers for the front.

Tbh in my opinion theres no point in taking the cd changer cable out as it can jus be tucked behind the glovebox. and cant give an opinion on the inphase speakers as i've never come across them before but would say that reduction is b*****ks.

in answer to the adapter question the answer is more likely to be yes as sony like to be different and have a different rear connector to other brands, most new units usually come with a set of adapter cables tho :s, all i can suggest is whip the old one out n have a quick look

Santa answerred my wishes and a new head unit was duly delivered on Christmas day, Sony CDX-GT540UI, this will replace the existing Panasonic tape deck/boot changer setup in my '97 E36 323i Coupe.

I'm looking for some advice!
1) do i take the cable out from the old head unit to boot changer? won't it be a pig to get out?

2) do i really need an adaptor to fit the stereo? Halfords website says yes but Santa didn't bother - its only £16 so not a big deal if recommended?

3) the most important question however is.... what speaker upgrades would you guys recommend? i want to keep the same size but go for better quality/ output than the originals, no amp or sub. i looked on a few car audio sites and ebay and £20 a speaker seemed a sensible budget for a decent brand and performance but i couldn't find any packages, especially if a decent Sony set was available as i'd match the head unit

thanks
tom

1 -yes just tuck the cable out the way behind the glove box

2- i used an adapter as i too have a sony unit and just tidier and safer

3-i used alpine comps for the front and audiobahn 6x9 speakers for the rear and although they sound ok using the headunit power i chose to amp them all up and the sound is incredible now and now a 12 inch sub to boot as well.

try alpine,infinity,kenwood,rainbow,focal.hertz for some good speakers

HOw do I go about amping my front and rear speakers? Do I need a seperate amp to my sub - amp? And do I need 1 for front and one for back?

thanks

[B][B]run power wire from battery through grommet behind glove box and run under carpet or trim to boot(dont fuse it yet)
ground wire to good earth in the car(seatbelt bolt?or anything with a good contact)
remote wire from headunit to amp

2- i used an adapter as i too have a sony unit and just tidier and safer

3-i used alpine comps for the front and audiobahn 6x9 speakers for the rear and although they sound ok using the headunit power i chose to amp them all up and the sound is incredible now and now a 12 inch sub to boot as well.

try alpine,infinity,kenwood,rainbow,focal.hertz for some good speakers

thanks, very helpful, i've been looking at some alpine today from caraudiosecurity.com (which are just round the corner from work), they've got a connector too (£10).

Did you swap the tweeters or just disconnect and just have sound in the front from the new main units?

i think its getting to the position as one of the posts above says... get in there (carefully) and see what is what rather than asking 50 million questions!!

thanks, very helpful, i've been looking at some alpine today from caraudiosecurity.com (which are just round the corner from work), they've got a connector too (£10).

Did you swap the tweeters or just disconnect and just have sound in the front from the new main units?

i think its getting to the position as one of the posts above says... get in there (carefully) and see what is what rather than asking 50 million questions!!

Many ways really and both ive done recently on mine and another coupe-first way is just buy 2 way speakers and leave the tweeter in the door running as well as its still sounds good using headunit power assuming you have a half decent headunit

my way was run speakerwire from the amp to the crossover hidden inside the door and then split the signal to the 5 1/4 speaker in the footwell and tweeter as per instructions.had to do a bit of tweeking to mount the tweeter

you could just amp the 5 1/4 speaker without a tweeter(wouldnt say its great though)

just replace all the speakers with alpine replacements or similar

the choice is yours mate

better to concentrate getting good speakers and sound up front then do the rears for a bit of fill-comps up front/co axials for the rear or 6x9s

ok, well i've been shopping... gone for JBL all round on the advice of caraudiosecurity.com as they recommended a better spec from the JBLs than the Alpine speakers i'd selected. As they are located near my work i've been down this morning and collected them. I've also gone for 6x9 in the rear, speakers and a mounting mould.

Total spends set me back £100, i'll list the exact models etc later and put some install pics up over the weekend. Can't wait!